Cleaning rust off blades

**an2knee** · 10-26-2011, 08:40 AM

Does anyone have any tips for cleaning up blades? I have a Mappin & Webb 'Nulli Secundus' seven-day set and they could do with some attention.

Any suggestions appreciated. Cheers

**Mike H** · 10-26-2011, 09:21 AM

Depends on how bad the rust is. Dremel with polishing compound for minor staining. Hand sanding with progressively finer grit sandpaper for the more serious stuff.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...shing-Tutorial

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...ng-progression

**johnnyxxl** · 10-26-2011, 10:10 AM

Naval jelly works like a champ wont hurt etching either in my experience

**UPD** · 10-26-2011, 11:11 AM

I use greaseless compound on buffers in my shop, but I started out doing it by hand with sandpaper.

**an2knee** · 10-26-2011, 12:26 PM

Cheers guys for getting back. I'll give your suggestions a go and will definitely check out the link too. Much appreciated!

**Kavik79** · 10-26-2011, 12:37 PM

if you're going to go with the buffer or dremel, make sure you do it safely. Never let it heat up to much, always keep the wheel spinning from the spine towards the edge, use a light touch with the buffer but keep a real firm grip on the blade. Doesn't take long to damage the blade, yourself or both.

**hillbilly** · 10-26-2011, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by Kavik79

if you're going to go with the buffer or dremel, make sure you do it safely. Never let it heat up to much, always keep the wheel spinning from the spine towards the edge, use a light touch with the buffer but keep a real firm grip on the blade. Doesn't take long to damage the blade, yourself or both.

+ 1

**thatsilverguy** · 10-26-2011, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by johnnyxxl

Naval jelly works like a champ wont hurt etching either in my experience

So if I go down to the OWS camp downtown, how many people's navals would I have to clean out to have enough to clean a razor? Or how many days without a shower until I can make my own?

**mdunn** · 10-27-2011, 02:47 PM

Check out the diy resto link in my sig.. All you need is sandpaper and a bit of elbow grease

**johnnyxxl** · 10-27-2011, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by thatsilverguy

So if I go down to the OWS camp downtown, how many people's navals would I have to clean out to have enough to clean a razor? Or how many days without a shower until I can make my own?

Lol not sure it was alteady in a jar. Kinda pink and thick like petro jelly. Rubbed it on a gun barrel and 5 minutes later rinsed off with a rag and no damage to etching on gun that would happen using sand paper or dremil tool

**thatsilverguy** · 10-27-2011, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by johnnyxxl

Lol not sure it was alteady in a jar. Kinda pink and thick like petro jelly. Rubbed it on a gun barrel and 5 minutes later rinsed off with a rag and no damage to etching on gun that would happen using sand paper or dremil tool

I wasn't serious, but I have known people to think that was the source. My division used naval jelly during a shipyard period to remove decades of pitting rust from one of the USS New Jersey's decks. Years later when I visited the ship after it became a museum ship the deck was still rust-free.

I just picked some up today from my local hardware store, along with some gloves and some "greenies" (scotch-bright pads to civilians)

I have seen too many restos take off WAY more metal (and so many beautiful washes)

I didn't want to lose any of the beauty of my blades.

**Kavik79** · 10-27-2011, 11:53 PM

are you saying navel jelly doesn't damage gold wash??

**thatsilverguy** · 10-28-2011, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by Kavik79

are you saying navel jelly doesn't damage gold wash??

You'll find it as "naval jelly" at your hardware store (with an "a"). I was having a bit of fun earlier. I infer from what John said that naval jelly does not damage gold wash.

I have read that the active ingredient in naval jelly is phosphoric acid - wicked stuff. This stuff will send you to the hospital if you smell the fumes. Fortunately gold is pretty stable around most acids that I know of. I have not tried applying naval jelly to gold washes yet, but I may do that with one in my next batch of restos. I have a neglected LG that is waiting to become beautiful again.

Regards,
Larry

**Kavik79** · 10-28-2011, 11:35 AM

LOL yes, with an "a". Sorry, it was like 3am when I wrote that

I'd definitely be interested to see the results when you get around to trying it. The only gold wash I had here was already ruined by attempting a very light hand polishing, though it was already corroding through the gold, so that one was more of a test than a restoration anyway

**TheEditor** · 10-28-2011, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by johnnyxxl

Naval jelly works like a champ wont hurt etching either in my experience

I second this. Johnnyxxl suggested this to me and since I ordered some I love it. Thanks again BTW.

**johnnyxxl** · 11-04-2011, 03:51 PM

I was trying to go along with the fun I knew what you were going for I think it is made from my little ponies?

**thatsilverguy** · 11-14-2011, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by johnnyxxl

I was trying to go along with the fun I knew what you were going for I think it is made from my little ponies?

So I forgot that it was sort of neon-colored. I applied and washed off the stuff and it turned my shiny metal black. I tried to wipe this black staining off and most of it goes away but some remains. What, if anything, can you do to get that off?

I'm also curious how you would handle washes. Or are washes safe as long as you don't touch a grinder to them?

**Krodor** · 11-14-2011, 12:30 PM

I have a penchant for buying ugly razors and making them pretty again. I'll have to take some "after some sanding" (not complete) pictures later tonight, but here's a blade I'm currently working on that I got from ebay:

with some 100-grit sandpaper and a couple hours (3?) of sanding I've gotten it looking mighty fine already. I'm currently in the 400-600 grit range for the progression, but even just with some relatively coarse steel wool she was looking better already:

**Krodor** · 11-14-2011, 07:57 PM

Here's "current status". I do not mean to hi-jack the thread with all the images...the point of all this is to say, as was stated by others above, that some sandpaper and several hours of hard work can do it for you.

Enjoy the time you have doing the work by hand, cuz in the end it just makes you feel good to take a chucker-razor and make it beautiful again.

The gigantic rust blobs have now all but disappeared...they were bulging out and had really deep pitting. There is still some evidence of them, but I essentially gave up...I figured I would let at least a *little* age show. I am building this as a potential raffle item, so didn't want to scare anyone with showing too much patina. I may not get to "mirror", but I'll get close enough to make me content.

Maker's stamp looks decent...the "J" was already gone before I started in on it:

kinda fun resurrecting a "Trinity" blade....(yes, the raffle is potentially for a Knights of Columbus group here in NY, but they don't know it yet...I plan to make scales from a tree that fell down on the church property in the recent snowstorm)

**thatsilverguy** · 11-15-2011, 08:33 AM

Interesting. All that was with 100 grit sandpaper?

One of my projects is a beat-up Le Grelot that has a decent gold wash. I really want to save as much as possible, and I don't think sanding will be good for the wash.